Health Tips for Your 20’s and Beyond

Growing Younger Gracefully

By: Lisa Cherry

When I talk about Health, lets be clear about what I mean. We need a common ground and clarity so that I, the writer, know that you, the reader, understand me.

I am referring to our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional well-being. We can talk about food, exercise, not smoking, reducing alcohol intake as much as we like, but without looking at the whole of you, it becomes a little pointless.

If you fully grasp the following, then I believe that a long and happy life awaits you.

1. FOOD….Don’t diet. It’s a massive, wealthy industry, not a way of life. Make eating three meals a day your lifestyle. Or, you can try several small (healthy)meals evenly placed throughout the day. Either way, have nothing in between other than some fruit or nuts, and don’t eat after 6.30pm. Also, avoid processed, pre-packaged foods and opt for fresh and organic instead. I hate to break it to you but it really is that simple. Food should be enjoyable, nourishing, nurturing and filled with love. Everything I cook is filled with love. Junk food isn’t.

2. NUTRITION….. What you eat really is what you are! But not just because of how eating the wrong foods make you feel physically, but because eating the ‘right’ foods give yourself a clear message about the way you feel about you. When you eat fresh, homemade, (organic ideally), food, you are telling yourself that you are worth it and that you have respect and love for yourself. It is a nurturing thing to do on many so levels and across many aspects of health. For example, it doesn’t mean ‘don’t eat cake’. It means make the cake yourself, with the best ingredients you can afford, invite a friend round and eat it together. Share it, love it, be it.

3. EXCERSISE….Think Yoga, walking, taking the stairs, parking in the furthers parking spot from the door, etc. The gym is great but it’s not for everyone, it’s expensive and it’s likely you will reach a day when you just don’t want to do it anymore. Once upon a time, there were no gyms….it’s true!

4. RELATIONSHIPS…Your friendships are everything. As women we need our friendships like the thirsty need water. It’s the way we thrive, give and receive support, laugh, play, explore, challenge and grow. It just is. So forget about being competitive and value yourself and your friendships. When you are wrong say sorry, when you don’t mind either way, make a cake and share it! (See point 2!)

5. ADDICTION….If you’re concerned that you may have an addiction, go and seek help NOW. Do not drag this sorry state of self-abuse into the next decade where the amount of people devastated by what you’re doing, will increase.

6. HOLISTIC THERAPY…Incorporate holistic therapies into your life from today. This is like an insurance plan but cheaper and happier. Regular Massage, Reflexology, Reiki, etc will help you feel centred, balanced and well. I haven’t been to a Doctor in absolutely years!

7. ABUNDANCE…I do not mean money. One day you will look around you and realize that money is completely and utterly meaningless if you do not have love (both self and from the people around you) and your health. Simple.

8. FIND YOUR PASSION…I have a lovely quote on my FB page that reads “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucious. So so true. !

9. KISS A STRANGER…Actually, what I really mean by this, is step out of your comfort zone every day! Be in your Experience Life To The Full Zone. This might well keep you young and healthy forever!

10. ENJOY YOURSELF…life is so short, a fact that unfortunately can only be discovered in its clarity much later in life. Know this to be true now. Write a list of all things you want to do before you die. Add to it at least once a week. Now go do it and tick off those dreams because we’re only here a while.

One last thing…Giving for giving’s sake, Pay It Forward, however you want to look at it, people who live long and happy and healthy lives, live in the energy of giving. I have seen this, I know this to be true.

I’d love to explore the points mentioned above in more detail so please comment below if you would like further exploration on anything and I’ll do just that next time!

Wishing you a beautiful day….

Connect with Lisa!!

Lisa Cherry, is a Health and Well Being Therapist and a Writer who lives in Oxfordshire in the UK with her two lovely and challenging (in equal measure) teenage children and her rescue dog, Lulu.

She worked with children and their families in Social Services and Education for many years and re-trained in Holistic Health Therapies in 2006. Lisa now focuses her work on women working with the whole person to restore balance and improve a sense of well-being and overall health.

She is often described of as a coffee snob, a chocolate brownie lover, a soup maker, a risk taker, long time sober and of course a friend.

To find about more about Lisa’s work as a Health and Well Being Therapist, please go to www.holistic-health.me.uk
To find out more about Lisa’s work as a writer, please go to www.lisacherry.co.uk
Lisa tweets on @_lisacherry
You can find Lisa on Facebook is HERE

Thank you Lisa for sharing these wonderful tips and reminders. I know I feel so much better when I am eating as healthy as I can, get exercise and also give myself some time to rest, relax and meditate. In this hurry up world that we live in, your reminders are so important. Keeping us healthy, wealthy and happy starts from within. So following your tips and advice will be a good start in the right direction.

Eating lots of red peppers, berries, spinach, blueberries….all the super foods, will certainly look after your skin and hair as well as, research shows, offer protection against free radicals. The way you treat yourself in your 20’s will definitely reflect back up to you from your late 30’s….. X

Awesome advise, especially coming from someone who has experienced way too much burn out in her life and has spent the last few months trying to regain some degree of normality from the years of stress and ‘abuse’ on my body.